Mount Pocono helicopter crash victims lived with gusto, families say

Tighe Sullivan and William Ellsworth moved in different circles but shared a gusto for life and golf, their families said. Ellsworth, an American Airlines pilot for 19 years, piloted a helicopter in his part-time work for a New Jersey-based charter service.

Tighe Sullivan and William Ellsworth moved in different circles but shared a gusto for life and golf, their families said.

Ellsworth, an American Airlines pilot for 19 years, piloted a helicopter in his part-time work for a New Jersey-based charter service.

Sullivan, founder and chief operating officer of a New York City-based investment management firm, was a doting father of three, active in charitable causes in his hometown of Darien, Conn.

Theirs were separate, passion-filled lives connected in death.

Sullivan was one of two passengers on their way back from a golf outing when the Bell model 407 chopper Ellsworth was piloting hit rough weather Tuesday night and attempted to land at Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport.

The helicopter crashed in the woods off Interstate 380, the front of the chopper first hitting a tree, then the ground and ultimately landing on its side, authorities said.

Ellsworth and Sullivan, seated in the front, were killed. A rear-seat passenger, Stephen Barral of Bernardsville, N.J., survived, though he was critically injured.

Barral has worked for W.H. Mell Associates, a municipal bond brokerage in Summit, N.J., since 2011, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He is also listed as a managing member of Gulfstream Capital Management, a hedge fund run that manages about $325 million in assets, records show. Prior to that, he was head of U.S. convertible bond sales at Barclay's Capital.

Ellsworth's love of family was unmatched, said family member Tim Fleischer. Ellsworth spent as much time as he could with family, given that he was a commercial pilot.

Fleischer said Ellsworth, 52, of Califon, N.J., was married for 23 years to his wife, Trish. They had two children, Eliza, 18, and Harry, 15.

"If there were passions in his life outside of family, it was flying and golf," Fleischer said.

Ellsworth got his pilot's license when he was 21, said Monroe County Coroner Bob Allen.

"American Airlines is saddened to learn of the death of First Officer William "Will" Ellsworth, who had been a pilot with American for 19 years," the company said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Will's family and the others affected by this tragedy."

Callie Sullivan described her late husband as "one of the most gregarious, fun-loving, generous people I have ever known. There will be hundreds of people who will agree with that."

She described him as a "ball of fire" who was involved in numerous charitable causes in his community.

"He just loved life. He loved every second of it. He was full of energy," she said.

He described her husband as a "Renaissance man" with an appetite for all things outdoors and nature, including hiking, skiing and golfing.

"He was happiest when he was on the move and when was with his children," two girls ages 18 and 17, and a son, 15, said Callie Sullivan, who met her husband on a blind date set up by one of her girlfriends and one of his fraternity brothers. They were married 24 years.

Sullivan had a career in finance.

Before he founded the investment management firm of WCAS Fraser Sullivan, he was a managing director in high yield at Deutsche Bank from 2000-05, according to the company's website.

While at Deutsche Bank, he marketed 600 new issues representing $185 billion of high-yield bonds and bridge financings. He previously held numerous other posts with other financial firms after starting his career at Chase Manhattan in 1983.